Face-to-face foreclosure fight in Monroe County

Tuesday

Jan 29, 2013 at 12:01 AMJan 29, 2013 at 5:39 PM

Monroe County has the largest backlog of problem mortgages among 26 Pennsylvania counties conducting mortgage diversion courts. An all-day event Friday matches the backlog of struggling homeowners with counselors.

DAVID PIERCE

Monroe County has the largest backlog of problem mortgages among 26 Pennsylvania counties conducting mortgage diversion courts, but officials are doing something to catch up.

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency and two private nonprofit industry groups are sponsoring a free all-day workshop Friday at East Stroudsburg University for people in danger of losing their homes.

Homeowners are encouraged to bring their mortgage documents, proof of incomes and any foreclosure notices they may have received.

"The session is to attract anyone who is falling behind on their mortgage, even those who aren't in foreclosure yet," Monroe County Judge Arthur Zulick said.

Counselors from five nonprofit housing counseling groups will be on hand to work with the homeowners, a first step in approaching lenders about revising loan terms.

Other financial workshops also will be held at the ESU Innovation Center.

The special court, formed two years ago so homeowners could speak directly with lending officials who have the power to change loan terms, has a backlog of 300 cases.

This means homeowners have to wait five months before seeing a representative of the only counseling agency doing the free mortgage intervention work.

Starting Friday, five regional nonprofit housing counseling agencies will be available to clear the backlog.

The counseling groups will work together so counselors are available five days a week for the next year at the Monroe County Bar Association office in Stroudsburg.

The Monroe County case backlog was discovered during a survey of the 26 special mortgage diversion courts, said Michelle Lewis, president of the American Society of Certified Housing Executives.

"Once we found out about this backlog we talked to PHFA, and PHFA came to the rescue," Lewis said. "It is extremely high," Lewis said of Monroe County's foreclosure case backlog, "and if it is not the highest rate based on the population, it is definitely within the top five."

"We're not aware there is this kind of significant backlog in the other counties we're looking at," added Terri Redmond, the state Housing Finance Agency's education manager. "This (counseling) event is unique."

Counselors will be available Friday to work individually with homeowners.

PHFA officials will talk about its state housing finance programs.

There will be workshops on ways to reduce housing costs, including energy conservation.

The intent of the court diversion program is to intercede so homeowners are able to speak directly to lending executives who have authority to negotiate new loan terms, Zulick said.

In a traditional foreclosure action, attorneys representing large national lenders usually aren't authorized to consider loan modifications.

Housing counselors are quite knowledgeable about the mortgage process, said Jim Parks, also with the American Society of Certified Housing Executives.

"They know how to speak the language and talk in a way that's not adversarial and move to solutions," Parks said.

Officials encourage homeowners who are under water in their mortgages — owing more than the home is worth in the current market — to attend the session, even if they are current in their payments.